The inaugural flight is scheduled to touch down in Tamworth just before 11.30am. 

JetGo managing director and former Tamworth businessman Paul Bredereck said though there were many “minor issues” that threatened the start date, such as the ability to print baggage tags in Brisbane, the problems had all been resolved and the flight was ready to go. 

Mayor Col Murray said the launch of the route was “a massive sigh of relief”. 

“It’s something that the community has had a very strong interest in ... so it’s great to see it started,” Cr Murray said. He said though the airline would start with a “modest” number of flights, it was paramount the service stayed viable in the long term.

Mr Bredereck said it was “an important week for the community” as the new flight path would give locals more choice, rather than flying to Brisbane via Sydney as the only option. 

“Our forward bookings are ahead of where we expected them to be,” Mr Bredereck said. 

The Brisbane-based carrier initially planned to start flights during the country music festival on January 19, but the date was pushed back to February 2 and again to March 2. 

Despite the delays, the flight path is much anticipated by locals, who have been without a direct Brisbane to Tamworth service for a total of 15 months following the collapse of Brindabella Airlines in December 2013. 

During March, JetGo will fly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving Brisbane at 9.30am and departing Tamworth at midday.

From April 6, there will be twice daily flights on those days to allow same-day return travel. 

A Sunday afternoon flight will be added from April 12, with Tuesday and Thursday flights due to start up in September, though Mr Bredereck indicated the date could be brought forward if there were sufficient demand. 

Prices for one-way flights on the 36-seat jets start at about $194 and go up to $649, but during March the airline is offering special $99 one-way flights to passengers who book using the code word “jet”.